Who knew that a newborn’s schedule could be such a topic of discussion? But, the truth is, parents love “good” babies, and babies LOVE routine, so having a good schedule is essential. Let's start with our newborn schedule.
Our first month with the twins is somewhat of a blur. I have visions of breastfeeding, syringe feeding, bottle feeding, being awake in the middle of the night, and changing 20+ diapers a day. I have visions of surviving. But those newborn days were some of the sweetest, because that is when we made our first memories together as a family of four. This is roughly what our newborn schedule looked like:
Newborn Schedule:
7:00am - Awake and Eat
7:30am - Play/Tummy Time
8:00-9:30am - Nap
9:30am - Eat
10:00am - Play/Tummy Time
10:30-12:00pm - Nap
12:00pm - Eat
12:30pm - Play/Tummy Time
1:00-2:30pm - Nap
2:30pm - Eat
3:00pm - Play/Tummy Time
3:30-5:00pm - Nap
5:00pm - Eat
5:30-6:00pm - Play/Tummy Time
6:00pm-6:30pm - Nap
6:30pm-7:00pm - Play/Tummy Time
7:00-7:30pm - Bedtime Routine
7:30pm - Bed
10:00 - Dream Feed
Nighttime - Feeding + Soothing as Necessary
Flash forward 5 months. Our schedule looks a little different. We have no night time feeds, and the babies time between naps (wake windows) has gone from 60 minutes to 2-3 hours. We also added an hour-long stroller walk to our daily routine when the twins were about 3 months old and able to start using our walking stroller!
Our current Schedule (5 Months):
8:00am - Awake, Eat, Pump after Feed
8:30-10:00am - Play/Tummy Time/Stroller Walk (Snoozing some during walk)
10:00am - Eat
10:30am-11:30am - Play/Tummy Time
11:30am-12:30pm - Nap (Put down Awake)
12:30pm - Eat
1:00pm-3:00pm - Play/Tummy Time
3:00pm-4:00pm - Nap (Put down Awake)
4:00pm - Eat
4:30pm-6:00pm - Play/Tummy Time
6:00-6:30pm - Cat Nap (Put down Awake, we are in the process of cutting this cat nap out completely)
6:00-7:30pm - If no nap, then Eat & Play Time during this time
7:30pm-8:00pm - Bedtime Routine
8:00pm - Bed
10:00pm - Dream Feed
NOTES:
During Daytime Hours: Lights on, talking, & interacting with your baby.
During Bedtime Routine and Nighttime Hours: Dim lights, minimal talking & interacting with your baby.
I feed the twins on demand – so all the feeds are just guidelines, and there may be “snack” breastfeeds in between or slightly different times etc.
Despite the title of this blog post, the above schedules would be considered a [perfect] day in the lives of Duncan and Delaney. Many days their naps don’t always go perfectly according to plan. What helps guide the nap time schedule is following their age appropriate wake windows which I will list below. I also look for their sleepy cues – getting fussy, rubbing their eyes, blinking slower, excessively sucking on hands (one of their Positive Sleep Associations – find out more about Sleep Associations HERE). When I see them start to do some of these sleepy cues, that’s when I know it is about time to head to the nursey and get ready for nap time!
I know what you might be wondering, my baby is not a newborn and is not 5 months old, how do these schedules apply to me? In short, they probably do not, but all you need to do in order to build YOUR OWN schedule for your baby is figure out your baby’s age appropriate Wake Windows (using their WW to space their naps out accordingly), and follow an Eat, Play, Sleep order of events.
Wake Windows
Okay, so let’s talk about “Wake Windows.” Wake windows are the time babies are awake between naps. Here are general guidelines based upon your baby's age:
Birth to 12 weeks: 60 to 90 minutes
3 to 4 Months: 75 to 120 minutes
5 to 6 Months: 2 to 3 hours
7 to 14 Months: 3 to 4 hours
14 to 24 Months: 5 to 6 hours
If your baby is showing sleepy cues before it is time for their next nap, I encourage you to try and keep your baby awake for a little longer past their first signs of getting tired. For us, when the twins start to get fussy before their wake window is over, we go outside, lay on the deck and look up at the leaves blowing on the trees. This always holds them over an extra 15-20 minutes before nap time.
Bedtime Routine
Lastly, I shared what a [perfect] day in the lives of Duncan and Delaney looks like, but the twins also have a special routine they like to follow at bed time. Remember how I said that babies LOVE routine? This applies to their bedtime routine as well, so we follow the same routine every night to help the twins relax and know it is time to sleep for the night. Your bedtime routine can be simple, extensive, short, or long, the biggest thing is to do what works for your family, and to keep it consistent. Below is the bedtime routine that we follow for the twins!
Bath
Diaper
Dim Light
Nurse
Lullaby music/singing
Lotion
Pajamas
Sound Machine
Rock for a minute or two
Bed
Note: We always put our babies down awake
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